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THE NATIONS AT WAR 



A SERMON PREACHED IN ST. JAMES'S CHURCH, 

CHICAGO. ON SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 4. 1914, 

AT A SERVICE OF INTERCESSION FOR PEACE 

HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE PROCLAMATION OF 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 



BY THE 

REV. JAMES S. STONE. D.D. 



PRINTED BY REQUEST 

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Dlv. ofBiblio»r»pby 

Ub. of Congrert 
(Not y«t oa.t»iogu»d) 



By trjinsfT 
The «* *e Hous 1 
NOV 5 1914 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 



A SERMON PREACHED IN ST. JAMES'S CHURCH. 

CHICAGO. ON SUNDAY MORNING. OCTOBER 4, 1914. 

AT A SERVICE OF INTERCESSION FOR PEACE 

HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE PROCLAMATION OF 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 



BY THE , ' 



REV. JAMES S. STONE. D.D. 



CHICAGO 






With the Compliments of 

Robert Collyer Fergus 

1058, The National Life Building 

CHICAGO 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 



Malachi ii. 10: "Have we not all one father? Hath not one 
God created us ? Why do we deal treacherously every man against 
his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?" 



Five of the great nations of the world are at war. Some 
of the smaller powers have also joined themselves in battle. 
Never has the world known a struggle so extensive, so force- 
ful, so sanguinary, so remorseless. The choicest lands of 
earth have been devastated, cities and villages have been 
cast down, homes destroyed, hosts of people scattered, the 
tenderest instincts of humanity outraged, in whirlwinds of 
passion, furious beyond imagination, fierce as the very fires 
of hades. Language fails to describe the horrors of Europe 
at this time; while the effects of so desperate and vast a 
conflict have disturbed widely and deeply the countries not 
as yet embroiled. The appalling news from beyond the 
seas chills and sickens the heart. Abroad the tidings are 
of death; at home we are perplexed by decreasing business 
and consequent privations, and distressed by emotions that 
threaten to deteriorate our judgment and to drive from us 
serenity of soul and mind. 

The greater part of the world, and with few exceptions 
the whole of the white race, seem to have forgotten the 
questions of our text: "Have we not all one father? hath 
not one God created us ? why do we deal treacherously 
every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of 
our fathers?" 



In view of this deplorable condition of affairs, the Presi- 
dent of the United States has called upon all God-fearing 
people, on this day, to repair to their places of worship, and 
offer up their prayers to Almighty God for pardon and for 
peace. In his proclamation, the President reminds us that 
the counsels of statesmen have not been able to save the 
nations which have taken up arms against one another from 
the terrible sacrifice involved in the battling of millions of 
men. Under such circumstances especially, "it is our 
privilege and duty to seek counsel and succour of Almighty 
God, humbling ourselves before Him, confessing our weak- 
ness and our lack of any wisdom equal to these things"; 
and the President urges us to beseech our heavenly Father, 
that "overruling the counsel of men, setting straight the 
things they cannot govern or alter, taking pity on the 
nations now in the throes of conflict, in His mercy and good- 
ness showing a way where men can see none. He vouchsafe 
His children healing peace again, and restore once more that 
concord among men and nations without which there can 
be neither happiness nor true friendship nor any wholesome 
fruit of toil or thought in the world." And the President 
further admonishes us to pray God that "He forgive us our 
sins, our ignorance of His holy will, our wilfulness and many 
errors, and lead us in the paths of obedience to places of 
vision and to thoughts and counsels that purge and make 
wise." 

Besides issuing this proclamation, the President has 
both declared the neutrahty of the United States, and also 
urged upon every citizen of the Republic the duty of indi- 
vidual observance of that neutrality. That is to say, not 
only does he enjoin the people from furthering by act or 
word the warlike purposes of any beUigerent, but he also 
advises such forbearance in the expression of opinions as 
shall preserve the harmony of society. In other words, 



^ia 



every citizen, notwithstanding his love for the race whence 
he sprang, must remember that above all other obligations 
is that of his own citizenship. Before all things else he is 
an American citizen, and his first aim must be peace in his 
own country, and the maintenance of its essential principle, 
good will towards men of every race or nation. 

The wisdom, forbearance, and determination of the 
President and his advisers in keeping these United States 
from becoming entangled in the tremendous and deplorable 
war of the nations, are appreciated by all our citizens. We 
are thankful that God has given us leaders who have so 
clearly and heartily expressed the unanimous sentiment of 
the American people, and are so faithfully waiting for their 
opportunity of greater usefulness. They deserve our praise; 
and with that praise our kindhest feeling goes out to the 
Man whose tenacity of purpose and devotion to duty in his 
exalted office have withstood the heaviness of deepest 
sorrow. 

At this time, then, we have gathered together, as tens 
of thousands of other congregations are doing, to offer up 
our united prayers for peace, and to consider somewhat the 
difficulties and hopes of the times which have befallen us. 
And at the outset it may be well to remove from our minds 
certain misapprehensions which the observance of this day 
of intercession seems to suggest. 

In the first place, let us remember that neutrality and 
reserve do not mean impartiality or indifference. Such a 
frame of mind is now impossible. Constituted as our com- 
munity is of people derived largely from the nations now 
at war, no thinking man or woman in this country can avoid 
some sympathy with one side or other in this struggle. Our 
interest in the combatants, in the development of the war, 
and in the issues at stake, is necessarily absorbing. We are 
stirred to the depths of our emotions. We cannot escape 

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wishing success to the side we have espoused, and defeat 
to the side we disHke. It is probable that most of us are 
swayed in our sympathies more by prejudice than by any 
consideration of the facts. In times such as these passion 
is apt to leave reason behind; and the conclusions to which 
passion speeds its way depend more upon our race connec- 
tion than on any thing else. There is little doubt, for 
instance, of the attitude of our feUow-citizens of Teutonic 
origin, or of that of our fellow-citizens of Anglo-Saxon or 
Celtic or French or Slav origin. We live together, we 
appreciate each other's friendship, we discern the qualities 
which bind us in sympathy, oftentimes affectionate and 
invincible, and we determine to treat our differences of 
opinion as matters for personal or private indulgence and 
not for social disintegration; but we cannot help our emo- 
tions. Nay, more than this, in this country, together we 
sorrow that the people of our respective races in the mother- 
lands have drawn the sword against each other; and yet 
there are people in Chicago to-day praying fervently that 
the arms of the Kaiser may be successful, and there are 
people praying no less fervently for the triumph of the 
Allies. How can it be otherwise? No man of German 
blood, when he thinks of the land of Luther and Schiller, 
of the romance of the Rhine, and the glories of Berlin and 
Cologne, can be indifferent; nor could any man of English 
descent, when he recalls the splendour of London, the charm 
of Oxford and Kenilworth, the supremacy of Shakespeare. 
Neither is wiUing that the country of his ancestors, each so 
renowned in history, so resplendent in brightest and happi- 
est associations, should be desecrated or brought low. There- 
fore, I repeat, we have our prejudices; and it is not to be 
expected that in our observance of neutrality and courtesy 
we should let go our affections or our convictions. 

But our opinions do not come altogether from prejudice. 

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We have not been swept along by thoughtless emotion . Every 
effort has been made by the nations immediately concerned 
in this war to inform the world of its causes and its purposes. 
They who desire an intelligent rather than an emotional 
apprehension of the question have now abundant means at 
their disposal. They have not been slow in availing them- 
selves of it. The literature is growing fast. Much of it 
is valuable historically ; much of it consists of worthless and 
irritating vituperation. The latter we shall do well to cast 
aside, and also to discount the narratives so desperately 
put together by newspaper correspondents said to be in the 
midst of hostilities or in the confidence of men who know. 
The former we should judiciously consider. No one who 
has examined the government papers sent out from London 
and Berlin can fail to discover the occasion of the war, or to 
appreciate the efforts made to avert it. Nor can there be 
any question as to the judgment of the American people as 
a whole. That judgment is as unshaken to-day as it was 
when the war began. No one asks America to express that 
judgment, though the world knows what it is. All I wish 
to put straight is this: That it is possible for a man to 
assent in his heart to the popular opinion, and yet remain 
neutral and inoffensive towards all parties concerned; and 
that it is not possible at this time for a man to wrap up his 
neutrality in apathy. He may guard himself from dis- 
turbing the peace of his neighbour, — even though he has no 
doubt in his mind of what the outcome of the war will be, — 
but he cannot think of events now going on as he does of 
wars which happened thousands of years since. 

Another point on which we should have some under- 
standing is the very act for which we are gathered at this 
time, viz., the prayer for peace. 

I am second to none in longing for peace. Even should 
I dissent from the opinion that the method of force is no 

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solution of any question, yet with all my heart I believe 
that "peace hath her victories more glorious than war." 
The most helpful promises in Sacred Scripture are those of 
peace: God and man at peace with each other. The 
happiest days for a country are when the swords are beaten 
into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks. Blessed, 
says our Lord, are the peace-makers : for they shall be called 
the children of God. The very word "peace" awakens 
within us visions of rarest beauty and unalloyed delight. 
We think of Nature unfolding her wonders graciously and 
tenderly for the delectation of man; and of man rejoicing 
in the goodness of God and in the works of his own hands. 
We think of homes wherein purity reigns, and childhood 
sings its joyous songs; of fields in which the husbandman 
unmolested sows his seed and reaps his harvest; of busy 
streets and shops where the merchant and the artizan pursue 
their avocations free from the fear of foe. Then commerce 
wins its increase, and art and literature create their mar- 
vellous devices and twine their charms around the soul of 
man. Then is life held sacred; ambition becomes pure as 
the song of birds and simple as the bloom of household 
flowers; religion inspires virtue, strengthens conscience, and 
makes sacrifice a joy; and through the breaking clouds or 
out of the open sky the light of heaven falls upon a world 
so like the paradise of God, that once more in the cool of 
the day the Creator walks with man and the trees of the 
garden breathe forth their hallowed fragrance. How the 
world has prayed for peace such as this! "O that I had 
wings like a dove: for then would I flee away and be at rest!" 
Rather than this, some of the fairest lands of earth have 
been drenched with blood; the quiet of hillsides and valleys 
has been broken by the roar of cannon, the shout of fierce 
warriors, the cries of the helpless and dying; brooks once 
bright with summer waters are now red with human blood; 

8 



instead of fields of golden grain and orchards and vineyards 
of autumnal fruit, the farms are trodden down and home- 
steads have been made heaps of ruin. And there are trenches 
full of the dead; and graveyards where some broken-hearted 
mother or aged tottering father has pitifully smoothed the 
sod neath which lies the torn body of the soldier-boy. The 
wail of distress is carried far and wide by every wind; the 
anguish lies on all the lands, silent as death, hopeless as hell. 

And what has been gained? Brave little Belgium has 
been ruined; Paris has trembled at the dread of siege; mil- 
lions of men have been for three weeks locked in a death- 
struggle; and Germany has been charged with atrocities 
enough, if true, to lay her under the scorn of the nations 
and everlasting shame. Not one principle has been vindi- 
cated; not one link loosened of the chain that binds the 
nations. Beneath the waters, mines and destroyers have 
done their work; from the clouds have dropped balls of fire 
and streams of torture. Two months, and Europe has 
endured more woe and misery than the most fervent poet 
ever pictured possible in the regions of the lost. Human 
ingenuity has gone beyond diaboHcal invention. Ancient 
and mediaeval warfare knew no such horrors. Men have 
gone mad, — more furious than demons, more merciless than 
Satan. If all this be gain: if all this be glory: if all this be 
the result of forty years' preparation, who can imagine the 
woe which will befall the nati'^'^s if the war lasts much 
longer? 

It is when we think of these things that we pray for 
peace; and I have dwelt upon them, not only to suggest the 
blessings which peace only can give, but also to make plain 
that I am for peace, though I am about to say some things 
that are likely to be misconstrued. 

I long for peace; but I do not think that we should wish 
for peace at any price. Precious as peace may be, there are 

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some things still more precious. They are so precious, that 
terrible as war may be they justify war for their possession 
and security. I need only advert, for instance, to freedom. 
Had the American colonies not drawn the sword, indepen- 
dence had not been won; had Europe not banded together. 
Napoleon would have placed upon the nations a yoke of 
abject thraldom; had Belgium not sought to maintain its 
self-respect and honour, it had deserved aU that has be- 
fallen it. The conditions that lead to such conflicts are 
deplorable, but the determination not to rest under such 
is one of the most praiseworthy of human virtues. It is 
not necessary for me to define the aggression in the present 
war; nor is it necessary for me to argue that defence could 
scarcely have been neglected. It is not fair, therefore, to 
say that under no circumstances may war be rightly under- 
taken. This does not mean that better ways of adjusting 
differences may not exist, but there do come occasions when 
these better ways are not evident. Nor does it mean that 
an offensive war is ever justifiable. 

But it does lead us on to maintain that in times of war 
hasty and unseasonable efforts to secure peace may do more 
harm than good. They may even prolong and embitter 
the strife. Lincoln felt this in the day when this nation 
was confronted by disruption. Peace demands patience, 
and peace-advocates are oftentimes shortsighted and un- 
reasonable. The attempts made a few weeks since to force 
the President's hand were mistakes. Instead of helping, 
they tended to embarrass him. Not only has he no power 
to interfere, but were he to attempt such he would endanger 
his own usefulness when the appeal for intervention comes 
from one or other of the warring nations. So far none of 
them is talking of peace. As a matter of fact none of them 
will talk of peace until defeat is in sight. At the present 
time both sides are bent upon crushing and humiliating 

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the other side. Neither side is likely to go so far as that, 
but the defensive side cannot cease tiU it has secured itself 
against the offensive side. Whoever started the war will 
have to be so far disabled that another war will be impossible. 
A mere truce would be fatal to peace. On the contrary, it 
would involve another war. We have therefore to watch 
as well as pray. 

Indeed we need to search first for the things which make 
for peace. It is no use to seek peace where there is no 
peace; but the nations at war will be in the highway to 
peace when they discern the true proportions of things, 
understand each other rightly and justly, and realize that 
they have all one Father, and that one God created them. 
So soon as they acknowledge that their own counsel failed 
them; that they had no power of themselves to put straight 
their differences; that the faults are not all on one side, or 
the virtues all on the other side; that race-hatred is the 
worst and most unintelligent of all hatreds — then peace will 
appear like the dawn of a clear day. And we shall help 
them, not only by praying for them, but by praying also 
that from us may be banished all thoughts of bitterness or 
revenge, all harsh judgments, all doubts that right will 
conquer wrong, and the good outrun the evil. In praying 
and working for these ends, and not by suggestions of 
untimely interference with the combatants, we may more 
surely hasten the coming of peace. 

It is in this spirit that I urge the prayer for peace. Not 
for peace before it is time for peace, or necessarily for peace 
when the nations are so exhausted that they can fight no 
more, but for peace which shall be permanent, in which the 
sword shall be broken and the cannon made useless for all 
time. 

Perhaps I may venture to remind you that the dreams 
of peace which we commonly entertain are not pecuUar 

11 



to our day and generation. A hundred and fifty years since, 
and earlier, the world had its projects for universal peace. 
Rousseau advocated it ; thousands of evangelists proclaimed 
it. In the beginning of the last century, the Emperor 
Alexander I . founded the Holy Alliance, by which the signa- 
tory sovereigns agreed to govern henceforth in accordance 
with the principles of the Gospel of Christ, to regard each 
other as brothers, and their subjects as their children. 
There is scarcely a provision associated with the Hague 
Conference which was not brought forward at that time. 
Just one hundred years since, this very month of October, 
the Congress of Vienna began its memorable efforts to make 
sure for all time peace between the nations. People then 
were as earnest as they are now, and dreaded as much as we 
dread the cruelties of war. They were quite as unselfish 
as we are, and recognized quite as much as we do the obliga- 
tions of all men to their fellows. No nobler rule of conduct 
was ever proposed than that set forth by the Holy Alliance: 
"The sole principle of force, whether between governments or 
between their subjects, shall be that of doing each other 
reciprocal service, and of testifying by unalterable good will 
the mutual affection with which they ought to be animated, 
to consider themselves all as members of one and the same 
Christian nation." But the ideals though immortal came 
practically to naught, and when covenants and treaties 
interfered with national policy they were torn to shreds. 
They were no more substantial or binding than the deter- 
minations of the Hague Conference have been. Shreds 
of paper! Phantasmata fading into the smoke of battle! 
This has occasioned much depression, perhaps begotten 
no little hopelessness. The failure of peace conferences 
has been regarded as part of the general failure of Chris- 
tianity. These are Christian nations which are at war, — 
nations professing not only to be sons of one Father and to 

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have been created by one God, but to be disciples and 
brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ. They read the same 
Bible, maintain the same Creed, teach the same doctrines. 
They claim to belong, no matter what their difference of 
sect, to the one Holy CathoHc Church. They support large 
missionary- societies, and alike work zealously for the con- 
version of the world. Each of them has been honoured by 
saints and martyrs of which the others would have been 
proud. In every town and village throughout their terri- 
tories, ministers of rehgion abide and places of worship are 
prominent. Rehgion has been established among them for 
centuries. And yet, though declaring themselves one in the 
family of God, these peoples are eagerly bent on defaming 
and destroying one another. This deplorable spectacle has 
caused some to wonder if Christianity itself be not at fault. 
Why pray for peace, if Christianity be not strong enough 
to maintain peace? "To many," says a message sent forth 
by the English Society of Friends, "will come the tempta- 
tion to deny God, and to turn away with despair from the 
Christianity which seems to be identified with bloodshed 
on so gigantic a scale." 

But the calamity which has befallen the world is the 
fault neither of peace conferences or of Christianity. It 
springs out of a humanity which has so far denied itself as 
to set at naught its own resolutions, and to disregard the 
principles of the rehgion it professes. It is the work of a 
humanity which for the nonce has lost its balance, and indi- 
cates no more the failure of peace conferences or of Chris- 
tianity than prisons and asylums prove the failure of society. 
At all events the world outside of the regions of war is 
affected by some spirit which at least coincides with the 
spirit of Christianity, and which srill looks with hope to the 
restorarion of peace and the prevalence of continued and 
universal peace. Something is moving the world with a 

13 



compassion as mighty as the demon of wrath which has 
driven these nations to war. The nurse and the physician 
are on the battlefields under the sign of the Red Cross. 
Ministers of Jesus Christ kneel beside the wounded and the 
dying. Means are provided with a generosity unprece- 
dented for the comfort and sustenance of the widows and 
orphans bereft of support. Christianity was not indeed 
able to restrain the ambitions and suspicions of rulers, but 
there is no reason for doubt that Christianity will be strong 
enough to influence the reconstruction of society which will 
follow this woeful disturbance. Perhaps it will be found 
that it is not Christianity that is at fault, but our inter- 
pretation and practice of it. None of us is free from blame 
in this respect; and in the provocation of this war Chris- 
tianity had nothing whatever to do. The world will learn 
when this tribulation is past that had it obeyed the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ the war would never have been. 

In conclusion I would point out some of the good which 
may come out of this evil, some of the beneficial results 
which may ensue from a conflict unhappy beyond measure 
and begun without reason. 

For one thing we may expect that the day of enormous 
navies and armies will come to an end. "No country," says 
the Message which I quoted just now, "wiU be in a position 
which will compel others to struggle again to achieve the 
inflated standard of military power existing before the war." 
None of the nations concerned can hope to recover itself 
financially for many a long year. Their resources will be 
needed for the revival of their manufactures and commerce. 
A vast number of their young and strong men have been 
killed; the necessities of women and children made help- 
less must be supplied. Debts have been incurred that will 
not be paid for generations. Undoubtedly the great 
nations will recover themselves, perhaps surprisingly fast, 

14 



but they will have no money for such extravagances as were 
provided for the present war. Even should they wish for 
further vengeance, peace will be protected by their very 
exhaustion, and it is doubtful if men will again be found 
willing to fight for offensive and aggressive purposes. 

Another result may be the increase of power on the part 
of the people. No one expects changes in the form of 
government, but it will be strange if there are not great 
restrictions set by the people on the powers of government. 
Some of the nations were forced into war at the will of their 
rulers: the people themselves had no voice in the question. 
In days gone by treaties of peace, even the Holy Alliance 
and the Hague Conference, were made between sovereigns 
and cabinets; the people had no final authority. There 
will continue to be kings and presidents, but they will be 
made by the people and will be controlled by the people. 
Arbitrary' and irresponsible rule is doomed. And though 
it is not Hkely that the nations of Europe will unite in a 
confederation such as prevails on this side of the Atlantic 
or in the British Empire, yet the ideal of such may modify 
present conditions in the direction of harmony and good- 
will. It matters little what shape the theories of modern 
government may take, absolutism is near its end and democ- 
racy is overspreading the earth. 

Still another consequence of the war may be the growth 
of thrift, the curbing of extravagance, and the more generous 
distribution of wealth. No one can doubt the evil effects 
of idleness and ostentation. All classes in the community 
have lived with a recklessness that could only lead to dis- 
content, arrogance, and injustice. Now we are met by 
hard times, even in this country. Only the most careful 
economy will enable us to stem the tide. We shall do it, 
of course; so will France and Germany and England; but 
only by the measuring of resources, the consideration of 

15 



the needs of every member of society, and the prudent con- 
trol of the everyday Hfe. As the pressure increases our 
thoughtfuhiess will grow. We shall be brought closer 
together in a quieter, more steady, more brotherly inter- 
course. Waste will be stayed, and the fruits of toil will be 
husbanded. And all this will make for purity, happiness, 
and real and lasting prosperity. 

Nor may we question that the sobering influences of the 
peril which has threatened our civilization will tend to a 
deepening of the religious consciousness. These are times 
when thoughtful men review conditions and reflect on errors. 
More evident than ever grows the fact that man does not 
live by bread alone. He has failed at a crucial moment. 
No wisdom, no forbearance, no foresight could avert the 
wild and unruly torrent of the nations' wrath and jealousy. 
And men have neglected the exercise of that devotion and 
discipline which tend both to develop the noblest virtues 
of man, and also to bring him nearer to his God. It is not 
a question of the effect of religion upon the Deity, but its 
effect upon us. Some graces can only grow in a spiritual 
atmosphere. The habit of prayer and worship reacts on 
human nature to the quieting of its passions, and the 
encouragement of that serenity, tenderness and honesty 
which lift it up into realms of heavenly joy. Many a man 
who contemplates the present calamity will be led to put 
his trust in God, and to remember that life has only its 
beginning in this world. 

If these blessings follow the war we may indeed be thank- 
ful. It is a frightful price to pay for them, and we cannot 
help holding that they could have been brought about by 
better means; but since the nations chose the evil, we can 
but hope that God will bring good out of it. Possibly when 
the strife is over, the world may have a sense of security 

16 



it could not have so long as its peace was endangered, as it 
has been these many years past. 

But happen what may, our duty is plain. We must hold 
to our neutraHty. We must give our loyal support to its 
preserv^ation. We may have fairly our own personal ideas 
and prejudices, and we may satisfy ourselves as to the end 
of the struggle; but we may not do aught to imperil the good 
name of our own country. 

Thus, too, my brethren, we may pray both for the things 
which make for peace and for the effects of peace, — not, I 
say again, for peace with dishonour or for the strengthening 
of force, but peace which shall ensure for generations the 
harmony of the nations. We should pray that the sorrows 
of both friend and foe may be alleviated ; that their sick may 
be healed, and that mercy may await the dying; that we 
may be enabled to see the noble traits, the real, true char- 
acter, the manliness of both sides; that they may get to 
understand each other; that neither shall be so weakened 
or so successful that their usefulness shall be impaired; and 
that God will have mercy upon them and upon us, and bring 
the world safely out of its distress. 

For, after all, we are brethren. "Have we not all one 
Father? Hath not one God created us?" 



17 



mm 



Prayer for Peace 



OGOD, who beholdest all things in heaven and in earth, 
have compassion, we humbly beseech Thee, upon the 
peoples who have set themselves in strife and struggle 
one with another. Judge Thou their cause and so dispose the 
course of events that in the end the right shall be vindicated, and 
true and lasting peace shall prevail. Assuage the fierceness of 
their wrath, bring back to their minds those visions of peace and 
happiness which war has dissipated, make them considerate and 
forbearing even to those who they fear would violate their honour 
or endanger their possessions, and give them to realize that life 
is more precious than death, and that in Thy sight all men are 
brethren. Give Thy grace to their rulers and leaders that they 
may find the way out of the difficulties into which they have 
fallen. To those who have been driven out of life on the fields of 
battle, be merciful; to the wounded and dying, impart hope; to 
widows disconsolate and to orphans bereaved, vouchsafe strength 
and comfort. Relieve the distress of those who through this war 
are brought to poverty or hunger. 

May we who are far removed from the scenes of disturbance 
be enabled to think justly and kindly, to give help readily and 
freely if help be called for, and to pray that ere long the world may 
be restored to that rest from anger and to that confidence in Thee 
which alone ensure prosperity and contentment. Impart to our 
President and his advisers such wisdom and discretion as may save 
these United States from entanglements that may involve the 
nation in the bitterness and anguish of war. Let Thy fatherly 
hand be upon us, that, serving Thee with thankful hearts and 
loving diligence, we may glorify TTiee in maintaining peace and 
righteousness, and our country may continue to be a haven of 
safety and a land of joy to the oppressed of earth. These gifts 
and blessings, O God of all power, we beg of Thee in the name and 
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

AMEN. 



19 



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